UniCredit Securities in Moscow, which has been hit by several high-profile departures this year including that of its chief executive, has lost its head of equities and an equities analyst.

A source close to UniCredit said equities head Steven Dashevsky was leaving the bank along with analyst Anna Kochkina. UniCredit declined to comment.

Dashevsky, a Russian-born US citizen, joined Russian private bank Aton Capital in 1998 as an oil and gas analyst. He was promoted to head of research in 2002 before taking over as head of equities shortly after UniCredit bought Aton’s institutional business in July 2007 for $424m.

Dashevsky will not be joining a group of colleagues who left to join Aton’s relaunched investment banking business, according to a source familiar with the situation. Aton, which was bought by UniCredit, revamped the business after the Europe-based bank dropped the Aton name in February this year and its Russian business was renamed UniCredit Securities.

Evgeny Yuriev, the president and founder of Aton Capital, is building a full-service investment bank and looking to hire up to 50 bankers, according to recruiters.

It is understood that Aton’s partners and key employees had entered into an agreement obliging them to work for UniCredit until March this year when a lock-in expired.

Dashevsky’s departure follows that of Alexander Kandel, UniCredit’s chief executive and head of investment banking in Russia, whom Financial News reported in June would be leaving for “personal reasons”.